Here’s another candidate for signing day story of the year.
We all know Alabama head coach Nick Saban is a masterful wizard with recruiting, but the ongoing saga of defensive end Jarez Parks is just the latest example of how much of a genius Saban may be. Parks, a four-star defensive end from Florida, previously committed to Alabama with a full-feature video to announce his commitment from Paris, France, but he will not be getting a scholarship at Alabama.
Not yet, at least. It is being reported Parks will actually grayshirt at Alabama and enroll in January instead.
Parks was originally scheduled to formally announce his commitment during a signing day press conference Wednesday morning, but he decided to delay his announcement as it became likely Alabama was running out of scholarships to award in the Class of 2017 due to signing day announcements. With scholarships running out but still with a desire to play for the Crimson Tide, Parks worked out a way to still be a part of the program by taking a grayshirt instead of accepting an offer from other options like Tennessee, Florida State or Florida.
By grayshirting at Alabama, Parks will not be on scholarship once he enrolls with the university. When he does enroll, he will be a full-time student and officially be a part of the team, although he will have to wait for a scholarship to open up and be made available for him. This means he will have to pay his own way at Alabama, which is almost unheard of for a recruit that is as highly-rated as Parks is.
How does Saban do it?